If the share price of Harvey Norman Holdings Limited (ASX: HVN) is anything to go by, investors must have been expecting more out of the integrated retailer's half-year results.
Shares in Harvey Norman have dropped 2.74% to $3.90 at the time of writing, down from $4.58 on February 27 before the release of a first-half profit slump of 19.3%.
Harvey Norman share prices slid to a three-month low on the day of the results announcement, dropping to $4.01 by February 28.
Harvey Norman's net profit was reported at $207.7 million, down 19.3% from the previous corresponding period while sales in the franchise network were up 4.8% to $3 billion, but franchise network profit took a 2.9% hit to $167.2 million on competition and wages grounds.
Harvey Norman has its work cut out for it as global e-commerce giant Amazon makes its presence known in the Australian retail scene.
Shareholders will take a 2c interim dividend downgrade from 14c per share to 12c per share and price pressure remains an issue with competitors like JB Hi-Fi Limited (ASX: JBH).
JB Hi-Fi shares are also sitting down today at $25.47.
